Update on Rocco

[cindyluhoo]

Hi, I posted a thread last week about Rocco. He is my Timneth AG that I have had over a year now who is very close to me then weeks ago, his behavior changed and doesn't want anything to do with me. Afraid of me but will interact with my kids and husband. Well things are not changing much.
This morning I opened his door to come out if he wanted. I am home all day so I thought we can work on "building back our relationship". I cleaned his cage which he didn't want me to get to close. I offered him some of my breakfast and I have to reach out to give him something and not come to close. Well, he flapped his wings and got nervous so I pulled back and he jumped off the cage to the floor. He was squaking and running from me. I needed to get him back to his cage so I was slowly getting down to his level and telling him to step up. He finally did and freaked out and jumped off and started running. I noticed some blood smearing on the floor. I am thinking blood feather? I finally had to corner him and toss a towel over him to put him in his cage so he wouldn't hurt himself any more. Before that, I tried the "step up" approach and he bit me and actually drew blood. He is locked up in his cage and is staying there until he eventually comes out of this. I don't know what else to do. I hate to keep him locked up all the time but if he falls off or tries to fly off the cage, it is very tramatic for him to get him back up on his cage. I don't know. Very aggravating that is all I have to say. Any thoughts on this? Should I continue to keep him caged until he is not afraid of me?

 

[HRH Di]

I can only imagine how upsetting this is for everyone involved. I really don't have much advice, but have you tried just being close to him while he's in his cage? I have no idea why he would behave this way, but just being near you without having to interact directly may help your relationship.

Also, have you taken him to the vet? Is it possible that he's suffering from some illness that could be making him behave this way? Sounds like a long shot since he still interacts with the rest of your family, but still

I know how I would feel if I needed to keep my birds in their cages all the time - even if it was best for the current situation. Good luck, I hope things improve.

 

[cindyluhoo]

thanks. He seems to get excited at times when I talk with him through the cage, I know he wants to come out but when I get to close he has a weird squack that is not really loud. Like he is afraid and he is warning me to stay back. I will try and do the cage interaction and when I am at home the whole day with my family, I will let him out. I will keep you updated.

 

[wuvzbirdies]

This is something similar that happened with our Congo within the past few months. We've had him for over a year now and up until a couple months ago he was quite social with all members of the family, albeit I am his favorite, then all of a sudden he refused to have anything to do with my husband. We couldn't figure it out then it hit us that this strange behaviour came right after his last vet appt in which my husband was the only one present of the two of us. Russell associates his bad experience at the new vet with my husband and now refuses to have anything to do with him, in fact he gets quite upset when my husband comes near me. The vet visit was traumatizing because it wasn't his usual vet who was away and the one that was there just handled Russell roughly and also hurt him while both clipping his wings and filing his nails so now my husband is the bad guy.

Is there anything at all you can think of that could have been upsetting to Rocco that you were involved with? Birds are not equipped to handle change well so it could have been a very small thing you don't even realize. Or I could be totally off.

I hope you figure it out soon, I can only imagine how you feel with your baby acting like this toward you.

Good luck..... April

 

[cindyluhoo]

I took Rocco to the Vet for the 1st time after the behavior change and they think that since he is so young, it is Spring time, hormones, terrible two's? I did change my couch around that he is able to see from the kitchen and I took out our old kitchen table out and replaced it with a different one. Not sure if he started acting this way before or after. I am going to change the couch back today and see if that doesn't make a difference. I will be more open and he will be able to see us better when we are in the living room. My living room and kitchen is all open. I will try and let you know what happens.

 

[Spiritbird]

OK so now we have a new occupation. A hired villain to take your bird to the vet. That way we are still the good guys.